diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9c8b076..1c31319 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -93,12 +93,6 @@ mlflow:
   tracking_server_name: your-tracking-server-name
 ```
 
-Install the optional MLflow dependencies before enabling MLflow:
-
-```bash
-uv sync --extra mlflow
-```
-
 When MLflow is enabled, `train start` creates an MLflow run for the SageMaker job. `train status` finalizes that run once the job reaches a terminal state and registers completed model artifacts as pre-release model versions using the `prerelease-latest` MLflow alias.
 
 To open the managed SageMaker MLflow UI, request a fresh presigned URL:
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index de7b1fe..16d8132 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -12,13 +12,9 @@ dependencies = [
     "typer==0.25.0",
     "boto3>=1.34,<1.42",
     "constructs>=10.0.0",
+    "mlflow>=3.0",
     "pydantic>=2.13.3",
     "pyyaml>=6.0.3",
-]
-
-[project.optional-dependencies]
-mlflow = [
-    "mlflow>=3.0",
     "sagemaker-mlflow>=0.4.0",
 ]
 
diff --git a/src/tracking/mlflow.py b/src/tracking/mlflow.py
index 7019b65..2189eba 100644
--- a/src/tracking/mlflow.py
+++ b/src/tracking/mlflow.py
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ import os
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 from typing import Any, Protocol
 
+import mlflow
+from mlflow.tracking import MlflowClient
+
 from src.aws import mlflow as aws_mlflow
 from src.config import Config, MlflowMode
 
@@ -30,7 +33,6 @@ class NoopTracker:
 
 @dataclass(frozen=True)
 class MlflowTracker:
-    mlflow: Any
     tracking_uri: str
     experiment_name: str
     registered_model_name: str
@@ -43,14 +45,6 @@ class MlflowTracker:
 
         os.environ.setdefault("MLFLOW_SUPPRESS_PRINTING_URL_TO_STDOUT", "true")
 
-        try:
-            import mlflow
-        except ImportError as e:
-            raise RuntimeError(
-                "MLflow is enabled in config but optional dependencies are not installed. "
-                "Install with: qc-cli[mlflow]"
-            ) from e
-
         tracking_server_name = cfg.effective_mlflow_tracking_server_name
         if not tracking_server_name:
             raise RuntimeError("MLflow tracking server name could not be resolved.")
@@ -64,7 +58,6 @@ class MlflowTracker:
         mlflow.set_experiment(cfg.mlflow.experiment_name)
 
         return cls(
-            mlflow=mlflow,
             tracking_uri=tracking_uri,
             experiment_name=cfg.mlflow.experiment_name,
             registered_model_name=cfg.mlflow.registered_model_name,
@@ -72,7 +65,7 @@ class MlflowTracker:
         )
 
     def start_training_run(self, training_job: Any, *, region: str, profile: str, role_arn: str) -> str | None:
-        run = self.mlflow.start_run(run_name=training_job.job_name)
+        run = mlflow.start_run(run_name=training_job.job_name)
         run_id = str(run.info.run_id)
 
         params = {
@@ -90,21 +83,21 @@ class MlflowTracker:
         }
         self._log_params(params)
         self._log_params({f"hyperparameters.{key}": value for key, value in training_job.hyperparameters.items()})
-        self.mlflow.set_tags(
+        mlflow.set_tags(
             {
                 "qc_cli.stage": "prerelease",
                 "qc_cli.command": "train start",
                 "sagemaker.job_name": training_job.job_name,
             }
         )
-        self.mlflow.end_run()
+        mlflow.end_run()
         return run_id
 
     def finalize_training_run(self, *, run_id: str | None, training_job_status: Any) -> str | None:
         if not run_id:
             return None
 
-        with self.mlflow.start_run(run_id=run_id):
+        with mlflow.start_run(run_id=run_id):
             self._log_params(
                 {
                     "sagemaker.training_status": training_job_status.status,
@@ -115,16 +108,16 @@ class MlflowTracker:
                 }
             )
             self._log_final_metrics(training_job_status.raw)
-            self.mlflow.set_tag("qc_cli.command", "train status")
+            mlflow.set_tag("qc_cli.command", "train status")
 
             if training_job_status.status != "Completed" or not training_job_status.model_artifacts:
-                self.mlflow.set_tag("qc_cli.training_terminal_status", training_job_status.status)
+                mlflow.set_tag("qc_cli.training_terminal_status", training_job_status.status)
                 return None
 
             if not self.register_trained_models:
                 return None
 
-            client = self.mlflow.tracking.MlflowClient()
+            client = MlflowClient()
             self._ensure_registered_model(client, self.registered_model_name)
             version = client.create_model_version(
                 name=self.registered_model_name,
@@ -137,14 +130,14 @@ class MlflowTracker:
             )
             version_number = str(version.version)
             self._set_alias(client, self.registered_model_name, "prerelease-latest", version_number)
-            self.mlflow.set_tag("qc_cli.registered_model_name", self.registered_model_name)
-            self.mlflow.set_tag("qc_cli.registered_model_version", version_number)
+            mlflow.set_tag("qc_cli.registered_model_name", self.registered_model_name)
+            mlflow.set_tag("qc_cli.registered_model_version", version_number)
             return version_number
 
     def _log_params(self, params: dict[str, Any]) -> None:
         cleaned = {key: str(value) for key, value in params.items() if value is not None}
         if cleaned:
-            self.mlflow.log_params(cleaned)
+            mlflow.log_params(cleaned)
 
     def _log_final_metrics(self, training_job: dict[str, Any]) -> None:
         metrics = {}
@@ -154,14 +147,13 @@ class MlflowTracker:
             if name and value is not None:
                 metrics[str(name)] = float(value)
         if metrics:
-            self.mlflow.log_metrics(metrics)
+            mlflow.log_metrics(metrics)
 
-    def _ensure_registered_model(self, client: Any, name: str) -> None:
+    def _ensure_registered_model(self, client: MlflowClient, name: str) -> None:
         try:
             client.get_registered_model(name)
         except Exception:
             client.create_registered_model(name)
 
-    def _set_alias(self, client: Any, name: str, alias: str, version: str) -> None:
-        if hasattr(client, "set_registered_model_alias"):
-            client.set_registered_model_alias(name, alias, version)
+    def _set_alias(self, client: MlflowClient, name: str, alias: str, version: str) -> None:
+        client.set_registered_model_alias(name, alias, version)
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index c14c12e..bcbd0d3 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -2011,15 +2011,11 @@ dependencies = [
     { name = "aws-cdk-lib" },
     { name = "boto3" },
     { name = "constructs" },
+    { name = "mlflow" },
     { name = "pydantic" },
     { name = "pyyaml" },
-    { name = "typer" },
-]
-
-[package.optional-dependencies]
-mlflow = [
-    { name = "mlflow" },
     { name = "sagemaker-mlflow" },
+    { name = "typer" },
 ]
 
 [package.dev-dependencies]
@@ -2036,13 +2032,12 @@ requires-dist = [
     { name = "aws-cdk-lib", specifier = ">=2.180.0" },
     { name = "boto3", specifier = ">=1.34,<1.42" },
     { name = "constructs", specifier = ">=10.0.0" },
-    { name = "mlflow", marker = "extra == 'mlflow'", specifier = ">=3.0" },
+    { name = "mlflow", specifier = ">=3.0" },
     { name = "pydantic", specifier = ">=2.13.3" },
     { name = "pyyaml", specifier = ">=6.0.3" },
-    { name = "sagemaker-mlflow", marker = "extra == 'mlflow'", specifier = ">=0.4.0" },
+    { name = "sagemaker-mlflow", specifier = ">=0.4.0" },
     { name = "typer", specifier = "==0.25.0" },
 ]
-provides-extras = ["mlflow"]
 
 [package.metadata.requires-dev]
 dev = [